REPLY: One of the "problems" with pre-games is that they may get to be too mundane after the same crew has been working together for even a few seasons. I've been working on the same crew for about 8 years and with the same referee for 27 years! Really...for how long can we deal with an R who takes out an old binder and just recites a litany of "on a free kick, you go here, you go there" kind of stuff?
If you don't begin to inject some creativity into your pre-games, it's easy to fall prey to the "We-know-what-to-do-We've-been-doing-this-for-years" syndrome. Try some of these techniques:
- Have each member of the crew take turns preparing and leading the pre-game. A good idea I heard is to have him address each other member of the crew and tell what that member can do to make his job easier.
- Break the crew up into natural (and maybe some unnatural) pairs to discuss portions of the game that require their teamwork. Examples: R and U talk about enforcement procedures; L and H talk about using cross-field mechanics; B, L, and H talk about passing game keys, U, L, and H talk about spotting the ball and forward progress, etc.
- If you know the teams involved, consider talking about their tendencies and some of their game procedures. Examples: no-huddle; vertical passing game; use of misdirection, strong running game, etc.
When pre-games start to go bad, don't just look at the R. Each crew member needs to take some responsibility for injecting some life into them. For your particular case, if I were you, I would get the R's attention back to detail (and away from his friend) by asking for help: "Hey Mr. Ref, I need some help in understanding the OT procedure, especially..."